Electric controller.



R. R. ROOT.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8, 1906.

905,588. Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

YLQMWM Affar'zzay5.

R. R. ROOT.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED PBB.8,1906.

905,588. Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

Specification; of Letters" Iatent.

- appnntion mod February 8}1906. sex-m No. 300,088.

To all whom "it may concern: I Be it known that I, RALPH R. Roo'r, a citizen of the UnitedSta'tes, residing: at Cleve land, in the county of Cuyahoga'and State of Ohio, have invented acertain' new and useful Improvement in Electric Controllers,

of which thefollowing is" a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to'the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to electric 'controllers, and it has for its object the production of a device 'of this character" that will be simpler and cheaper in construction, more economical in operation, and less liable to damage from excessivecurrents and from usage than those heretofore constructed.

In carrying out my construction, I utilize the principles of the-electric arc, it being well known that the resistance to acurrent flowin' across an arc varies with theflength taken through the controller substantially" on the line 33 of Fig. 4, certain of the parts being shown in elevation for purpose of clearness; and Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line of Fig. 3, and looking to'the left;

Like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views of the drawings, in which l represents the front-plate of the conformed of slate as is usual in these constructions.

2 is a controller lever which is pivoted near the cent-er of plate 1, being secured to the outer end of a bolt 3. The lever 2 carries on the opposite sides of its pivot memoved in the opposite direction, these contact plates electrically connect respective pairs of segments which are shown at'lO and 11, and 12 and 13.

As will be seen from Fig. 2,.one of the segments as 13, is connected with one of the I inri terminals leading to a source of electric-ener'g'y, said terminal being" represented at 14, and the segments 13' and 6' are joined 'el'ectrically' by *a conductor 15. "The segments which conductor the carbon pen'cil' 18 is joined by means of conductor '17. 'llhe earbon pencil 19 is electricalcircuiu through the-conductor- 20,""with one brush-fifthe-elctrio-motor, the current to said-motor'returnc 6 5 ing through the conductor 21' to the'segments 9' or 12, depending upon the'l-po'sition of the controller arm. Assuming that the lever is turned so as to connect the segments '-7 and'll are joinedby-a' conductor 16, to-

S and '9, the current will flow" from" the segment 9 to the segment 8 and thence back to the dynamo 'or other source of power. Y From this description it will be seen that the" 'carbon pencils form a part of the electric circuit; and it will be understood that"- as the" gap between these carbons varies, the resistance will be correspondingly varied. "For heavy currents a; plurality of sets of carbon pencils,-arranged in parallel, may-be emthe right-handside, a second set of said pencils.

gs. '3 and 4, I have shown" means for varying the length of the gap between ploy'ed, and Fig. 3 shows, in' dotted lines at80 the carbon pencils. 22 and 23 are solenoids" which are interposed-in one or thejother of the conductors 17 or 20, said soleno1ds being in'serieswith each other and'also in series "with the carbon encils. Extending between is an armature 24, said armature being provided with cores or plungers 25 and 26 for troller box, said plate being preferablythe respective solenoids. The carbon pencil 19' is secured to the lower part ofa metalllc casing 27 that is fastened to the-rear of the ported by means of a bracket 30' from the slate front of the controller, and said sleeve is provided with an elongated slot 31 through which the binding screw 32 extends "said As will be. understood, the slot 3 1 -per1nits ,of the vertical movement that is grven 'to'i the pencil 18, which movement is secured by con- 'ne'ctin'g'said .p'en'cilto the armature24. The 1 0 'end' of the casing 27. The sleeve'28 is sup-" a binding screw being secured to a thiinb'lef33 on the upper end of theqc'arbon pencil-18.

connections between the carbon and arma tufe consist of the ring 34 that 1s ada ted to bind the encil'and 1i the same as t e ring itself is fted, or to releasethe same when the ring is lowered to normal position. Connected to said ring is a rod 35 that is secured to the armature, said rod being separated at the center and joined by an ordinary turn- '39, sald'rollers being adapted. to roll over said armature and bear the same downwith all of the segments.

wardly as the controller lever 2 is moved, the

armature being curved on its upper surface so as to secure the desired movement.

When in normal position, the main operating lever stands as shown in Fig. 2 with the contact plates 4 and 5 out of engagement The solenoids are then deenergized, and he armature rests in the position indicated in dotted lines inFig. 3, w1th the carbonpencils in contact. When the lever is moved so as to connect the segments 6 and 7, as shown in Fig.1, the current is permitted to flow through the solenoids an carbon'pencils, with the-result that the armature is jerked upwardly so as to separate the carbons .to their maximum extent, thus throwing'the greatest amount of resistance into the circuit.

As. the controller lever continues to turned to the right as in Fig. 1, the rollers 39 on the lever 38 hear the armature downwardly a ainst the pull of the solenoids and thus gra ually close the space between the carbon points, thereb shortenin the are which was formed w en the carbons were first separated and thereby cutting out the resistance. The strength of the current therefore increases as the controller lever is turned until the arm 38 reaches the osition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, w on the ga between the carbons is practically closed an the resistance has been substantially cut out. At this point it is desirable to switch the current around the carbon points, as the carbons would otherwise be consumed and the controller would require more attention'in order to keep it in proper working condition. For this purpose, I employ seg- -,ments 40 and 41, which are connected to- V ether by a conductor 42, said conductor eing jomed-with the conductor 20 from the resistance device. At the time when. the lever has swung so as to practically "close thsnglap between the carbons, the plate 4 or 5 connect the segment 40 with the plate 6, or the segment 41 with the plate 10, so

that the current willbe shunted around the resistance device through the conductors 42 and 20.

If preferred, the carbon pencils may beseparated by'mcchanical means rather than by the solenoids. In fact, various details in the construction shown may be made withput departing from the spirit of my invention, and I therefore deslre it to be understood that I do not intend to limit the following claims any further than is rendered necessary by the specific terms employed or by the prior state of the art.

If the air gap formed between, the carbons should prove to be so wide that the current will not arc across the same, the upper carboncan be lowered by' the adjustment of the turn-buckle 36 until the arc Will'form properly. It will be understood that if the arc should refuse to form, the current is simply broken momentarily,with the result that the carbons drop together again and reestablish the current, the upper carbons simply moving up and down until the proper adjustment is made.

Having thus described my invention, lf claim:

1. In a resistance device, a pair of electrical conductors, means whereby relative movement may be effected between said conductors for the purpose of varying the resistance therebetween, electrical means for separating the said conductors, and mechanical means for closing the gap between the conductors said means including a pivoted hand-operated lever.

2. In a resistance device, a pair of carbon pencils, means for moving one pencil relatively to the other whereby the distance therebetween may be increased for producing resistance, a switch-lever, and means connected with said switch-lever for closing the gap between the carbons for cutting out resistance.

3. In an electric controller, a switch-lever, a air of carbon pencils, a solenoid in series with said fpencils, connections between the plunger o said solenoid and one of said penclls whereby the pencils may be separated when the solenoid is energized, and means connectediwith said lever for moving the pencil to shorten the arc, whereby the v circuit, a solenoid in the circuit with said! jecting into said solenoids, connections bepencils, means connectin one of said encils with the core of the so enoid, where y the pencils are separated when the current flows, a controller lever, and means connected with said lever for drawing the core out of said solenoid and for closing the space between 5 the carbons, whereby the resistance in the 2 circuit is diminished as the controller lever is moved.

6. In an electric controller, a pair of carbon pencils forming a portion of an electric circuit, a solenoid in the circuit with said pencils, means connectin one of said pencils with the core of the so enoid, whereby the pencils are separated and an arc is formed when the current flows and the core is drawn into the solenoid, a controller lever, and means connected with said lever for drawing the core out of said solenoid and for closing the, space between the carbons, whereby the resistance in the circuit is diminished as the controller lever is moved, and means for adjusting the connections between the core and the pencil.

7. Inan electric controller, a pair of carbon pencils, electro-magnetic devices in series with said -pencils, connections between one of said pencils and said electro-magnetic devices, whereby the pencils are separated and tend to remain separated while the current flows therethrough, a controller lever, an arm connected with said lever and engaging the said electro-magnetic devices, whereby when said lever is swung, the movable carbon is moved to close the space between the pencils and thus cut out the resistance.

8.. In an electric controller, a pair of carbon pencils, electromagnetic devlces in series with said pencils, connections between one of said pencils and said electro-magnetic devices, whereby the pencils are separated and tend to remain separated while the current flows t-herethrough, a controller lever,- an arm connected with said lever and engaging the said electro-magnetic devices, whereby when said lever is swung, the movable carbon is moved to close the space between the pencils and thus cut out the resistance, and

means for closing a shunt circuit around the pencils when the latter are brought substantially together. 9. In an electric controller, a pair of carbon pencils, a pair of solenoids in series with said pencils. an armature having cores protween said armature and one of said pencils, g whereby the pencil is moved with the armature, and an arc is formed between the pencils, a controller lever, and an arm on said I lever in normal engagement with said armature substantially midway between the solenoids, said armature being so shaped that as i the arm is moved in either direction by the controller lever, the armature will be moved to vary the length of the are between the correspondingly varied.

10. In an electric controller, a pair of carbon pencils, a pair of solenoids in series with I said pencils, an armature having cores projecting into said solenoids, connections between said armature and one of said pencils, whereby the pencil is moved with the armature, and an arc is formed between the pencils, a controller lever, an arm on said lever in normal engagement with said armature substantially midway between the solenoids, said armature being so shaped that as the arm is moved in either direction by the controller lever, the armature will be moved to vary the are between the carbon pencils, whereby the resistance is correspondingly varied, and means for closing a shunt circuit around the pencils when the latter are brought substantially together.

11. In an electric controller, a pair of carbon pencils, a pair of solenoids in series with said pencils, an armature having cores projecting into said solenoids, connections between said armature and one of said pencils, whereby the pencil is moved with the armature, and an arc is formed between the pencils, a controller lever, an arm on said lever in normal engagement with said armature substantially midway between the solenoids, said armature being'so shaped that as the arm is moved in either direction by the controller lever, the armature will be moved to vary the are between the carbon pencils,

varied, and means for closin a shunt circuit around the solenoids and pencils when the latter are brought substantially to ether. In testimony whereof, I hereunto a X my signature in the presence of two witnesses. v RALPH R. ROOT. Witnesses:

S. E. FoU'rs, W. L. McGARRELL.

carbon pencils, whereby the resistance is whereby the resistance is correspondingly 

